767 mechanic said:
Bob............I did not mean to sound like I was bashing other work groups,but meant to point out the fact that the twu is problem with the mechanics and related work group. The industrial unions try to do the same thing as the company and get one group to blame the other.I hope that stores and fleet service can get into a trade union like the AGW so that there interests are being looked after.Thanks for the heads up on how I was coming across. No offense taken. Hope to see you in Tulsa for the celebration in the near future.
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I just wanted to make sure that the conversation did not go that way, I've seen it before where they have.
The Industrial Unionism vs Craft Unionism is another subject where tolerance and understanding needs to be improved. The enimity between the two, even within the AFL-CIO undermines the labor movement.
We all need clothes but one size does not fit all.
We all have basically the same needs, but one type does not neccissarily suit everyones needs.
Some workers are better suited for industrial unions while others are better off in craft unions. There are many different factors to consider.
Depending on who you are, what you do, where you do it and when, either type of unionism may be best suited to you.
Lets not confuse what the TWU claims it is with what it really is. The TWU claims it is an Industrial Union. Ok, what industry? Transportation you say? Ok, then why does the TWU try and organize people that are not in this industry? Because the TWU, even though most of its members are in Transportation is in fact a business union. They have enterred into "business agreements" with other business unions and divided up the airline industry in order to best suit the institutions themselves instead of the members they claim to serve.
I have yet to hear anyone say that putting all the ATDs into one union is a bad idea, and I've spoken to a lot of people including John Sweeney, Sonny Hall, Jim Little, Mike Bakala, Art Luby etc. In fact I have correspondence between Hall and myself on this subject. Hall tried to claim that through the TTD we were already all in one union. He dropped that arguement and admitted that we would be better off if all the airlines were in one union instead of all split up. So my question to him was simple-WHY NOT DO IT? Well then he did not want to write about it anymore. In a conversation that I had with Hall in May of 2003 he claimed that he knew that it would be best for the members but that all the International officers that were waiting for his position would not allow it to happen, nor would the same people in the other unions in question. He claimed that its not the top guys who were against it at all the unions but the ones just below them. He went on to talk about how he and the President of the ATU were trying to work on merging the two unions, and that a similar move in the airlines would also make sense but that all those other International officers, who feel that a combined union would mean less opportunity for them would not let it happen. I didnt buy it. I said that they as leaders should throw it out to the members, once out, there would not be much that anyone could do about it without exposing themselves for what they really are. I said they should put whats best for the thousands of members ahead of whats best for the few at the International level.
The fact is there is no valid arguement as to why we need so many different unions representing the same types of workers out there. Especially when they call themselves "industrial unions". What is the logic of having the baggage handlers at EWR (or any other locality) having the IAM at UAL, the ones at Continental with the IBT and the ones at AA with the TWU? Clearly these workers are not organized along "industrial lines, they are organized along "Company Lines". So is it any wonder that they end up behaving like company unions instead of industrial unions?
This structure does not work at all for Industrial unions, it does not work as well for craft unions but is works well enough for business and/or company unions.
As long as we stay in these unions things will not change. The chain of incompetance and self interest will continue though the Internationals. Their act is well rehearesed and proven effective, for them at least. Spew rhetoric, give excuses and blame the members.
Industrial unions are not supposed to pit one group of members against the other, they are supposed to nuture comradery. They are supposed to unite many differnt workers within an industry to the benifit of all. The sum is supposed to be greater than the parts so that even the skilled make more than they would than if they were alone. Clearly this has not been the experience or airline workers in unions that claim to be "Industrial unions".
The TWU has not been following true industrial union philosphy. They instead have pushed though things that would divide the members. They took work away from some members and gave it to others. They created Two Tier wage scales, long progressions, station protected vs system protected vs no protected workers, sub classes of lower paid workers etc. While spewing rhetoric about unity they do things that cause division. They do so because it benifits them.
The sad fact is that there are many in the labor movement who do actually believe that all workers are entitled to a good wage. Who believe in fairness, democracy and member empowerment. Unforunately there are more in it that are self serving, decietful and ignorant. The labor movement seems to be more like a pond than a glass of milk, instead of the cream rising to the top, the scum does.
One of the guys who I contacted within the AFL-CIO, who encouraged me to go forward from within with the combine the ATDs idea eventually admitted that there was some truth to what Hall said about International officers not wanting what was best for us because it may not be best for them, but the top guys were among them also and that it will never happen from within. He said that if airline workers wanted to ever get united that the only way to do it would be to leave those unions with diversified memberships, form a new union, then go back into the AFL-CIO. Of course he said "I didnt say that though".
My point in all of that was dont brand Industrial unionism for the faults of the TWU/ATD. They are not one in the same. Some industrial unions have lived up to the promise of the sum being greater than the parts, while others have morphed into business unions. I have no problem with a baggage handler getting more than a baggage handler would get on his own if our alliance resulted in the same condition for me, nor should any other worker, the concept that the more skilled should sacrifice on a never ending basis for the other worker, even if that actually happened, is not "industrial Unionism".
Clearly, the unions and the structure that we have in place is not working. Just look through the industry. Keeping the same structures and the same people running things, even if every member attends every meeting will not change anything. We need to clean house. There is no baby in the bathwater, just dirty useless water.
AMFA and the AGW now.
